Rocky the big kitty on lam no more

Russ Zimmer and Kathleen Hopkins, Asbury Park (N.J.) Press

October 22, 2014

DNA tests on Rocky, seen here at Popcorn Park Zoo in Lacey, N.J., didn't determine whether he is a purebred bobcat or a bobcat-Maine coon cat hybrid.(Photo: Tanya Breen, Asbury Park (N.J.) Press)

BEACH HAVEN WEST, N.J. — A 38-pound cat whose momma is a bobcat and daddy is of uncertain lineage was captured Wednesday within five blocks of the home where he's lived for more than three years.

But he won't be going home any time soon, officials said. Stafford Township Police Department officers discovered Rocky at about 7:15 a.m. ET sitting in one of the traps they had set, Capt. Thomas Dellane said.

"He was in fine health," Dellane said. But he's due in court, so to speak, Dec. 5. So he'll spend at least the next six weeks at Associated Humane Societies' Popcorn Park Zoo, a seven-acre animal sanctuary in Lacey Township, N.J.

At a court hearing Sept. 12, Rocky's owner, Gina Fine, vowed to secure Rocky's enclosure so he wouldn't go running around again and agreed that if the big cat did escape, she would turn over her pet to the zoo voluntarily. Fine could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

USA TODAY

Big kitty Rocky — 38 pounds — is on the loose again

Judge Damian Murray of Stafford Township Municipal Court has said in previous proceedings that Rocky has gotten free at least six times in the past, starting in October 2013. Four of the occasions landed Fine in court, including a 12-day disappearance from March to April that spawned questions about Rocky's pedigree.
Rocky was sold to Fine at 5 weeks old as a bobcat-Maine coon cat hybrid. A blood test earlier this year determined his bobcat lineage with certainty; the test did not answer the question of his domesticated cat ancestry.

Humane society officials, who were able to observe him during his eight-week stay there, have said he has the temperament of a pet. He's declawed, and before township officials required him to stay in a special enclosure in Fine's backyard, he lived inside — most of the time — with Fine's two other cats, a dog and a bird.

He has never hurt anyone, but some neighbors and public officials are worried that a cat of that size could bite. New Jersey regulates some exotic mammals such as ferrets, hedgehogs and chinchillas, and the state prohibits residents from owning primates, bears and big cats that are known to maim or kill such as lions and tigers.

Big breeds of domestic cats

(Photo: Follow the Piper blog)

• Savannah, a hybrid of an African serval and a domestic cat. An F-1 first-generation hybrid can weigh up to 30 pounds.

(Photo: Extend Creative blog)

• Maine coon, the largest breed of domestic cat and the only one with origins in North America. A male can weigh up to 25 pounds.

(Photo: Cats of Australia and the World blog)

• Norwegian forest cat, known as skogkatt in its native land. A male can weigh up to 20 pounds. A Siberian forest cat also can be of similar weight.

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